SAO: Crimson Dragon
by PrimordialCake
Summary: Caught off guard by tragedy, a girl named Elise attempts to find solace in the world of Sword Art Online. Unbeknownst to her, this safe haven would soon become her nightmare. (Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my first time ever writing any fanfiction ever. I mean I've written stuff before, but it was never much more than 500 words or so. I hope whoever reads this gives me feedback and such so I can actually improve. I hope you enjoy!**

**By the way, I don't own SAO or any of the characters. Just Elise.**

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SAO: Crimson Dragon

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My name is Elise Warren. I live with my mother and my older brother Spencer. My family was originally from the United States, but my parents decided to move here when I was just a year old. Spencer was 2 and a half at the time. When I was 4, our father died in an attack by an escaped murderer. My mother grieved, but Spencer and I weren't old enough to understand what happened. With father gone, Spencer turned to gaming and I focused on school as much as I could as I grew up. I'm 15 now, and Spencer is 16. We still live with our mother in a moderate sized house, and life was going great for all of us… Until now.

3 months ago, Spencer was diagnosed with Stage 4 bone cancer. It was too late to treat it, so the doctors moved him to hospice care immediately. I barely got to see him. He died 3 days before he was to receive the beta test for the game Sword Art Online. SAO is a VRMMORPG game developed by a company called Argus. The gear for the game arrived at our house the day after the funeral, so I decided I would play it. I wanted to understand his world of games, and how he saw reality..

So I entered that world. The world of Sword Art Online.

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Chapter 1: The Death Game

10 minutes. 10 minutes until the servers came online for Sword Art Online. Elise nearly shook as she ate lunch in the kitchen of her home, eyes jumping to the clock every minute. She wanted to return to that world where she could escape from the toils of reality, and the sadness of her home. She slowly ran her fingers through her long red hair and sighed.

"Settle down, Elise, it'll be online before you know it," She said to herself, continuing to eat her salad afterwards. As she finished, she walked over to the sink and washed the dirty dishes before drying her hands and looking at the clock once more. 5 minutes. She let out another sigh and walked to her room. The girl sat on her large bed and hugged a large stuffed wolf her brother had bought her 5 years prior.

_I miss you so much Spencer. I wish I could have played this game with you, and experienced the beauty with you. _

With a small smile, Elise set the stuffed wolf down at the edge of her bed and plugged in her Nervegear. With a small glance at the clock, her grin grew even further. 13:00. She quickly placed the equipment on her head and laid down on her bed with a wide grin.

"Link start!"

As her vision faded into white, the system began to check all of her senses. She got a feeling of satisfaction as they all checked out.

[Would you like to use the character Erica from the beta test?]

Elise chose the yes option, and opened her eyes as the she appeared in the starting area of Sword Art Online. The Town of Beginnings. She raised her right hand in front of her face and flexed her hand, hearing the leather of her gloves creak under the force. The girl brushed her now silver curls out of her face and began to run for the edge of the town, eager to begin fighting once more.

Footsteps quickly pattered against the stone sidewalk as Elise ran through the Town, narrowly avoiding colliding with other players as she weaved through the crowds. People amazed by weapon merchants and the realistic NPCs cluttered the streets. After a quick thought, Erica opted to stop by the Arms Merchant. She swiftly paid for a wooden buckler with her starting Col and continued making her way to the outskirts of the starting town.

The girl equipped the buckler on her left arm as she finally made it to the fields outside of the Town, her boots sinking slightly into the soft grass. She pulled out the broadsword she had chosen to start with and grinned as her fingers tightening around the hilt of the blade.

Erica turned as she heard a small boar spawn a few yards away, readying herself for combat. As the boar ran towards her Elise took an offensive approach, slamming the buckler into the horns of the creature. The small boar was set off balance by the strike, allowing Erica an opening to activate a sword skill. She let loose the sword skill with a yell, flying forward quickly as her blade pierced deep into the side of the boar. Erica turned once more and plunged the broadsword into the back of the stunned creature, smirking with satisfaction as it exploded into thousands of small polygons.

The girl sheathed her blade and swiped the notification of drops out of her view, continuing to walk through the fields. A light breeze pushed Erica's hair back into her vision though, she didn't care as the soft winds felt wonderful.

"It's so wonderful to be back."

With a small smirk, she spotted another creature approaching her and drew her blade once more.

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A heavy sigh drifted past weary lips as Erica sheathed her blade in the scabbard at her hip, the last of many mobs she had killed for the day bursting into polygons. She smiled briefly as she noticed she had just reached level 3 and stretched her body to ward off the weariness. A gasp escaped her as she noticed the time, her palm landing on her forehead.

"Shit it's almost 5:30 already? Mom's gonna kill me for playing for so long.."

The girl shook her head and began to jog back to the Town of Beginnings when she noticed a pair of players ahead of her, seemingly having troubles. She approached and raised a brow when she saw a look of fear on the black-haired boy's face.

"Are you two alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

The one with red hair spun around and looked at her like she was crazy.

"You haven't noticed yet? Check your menu! The log-out button is just…gone!" He replied urgently, causing Erica to step back a little. She swiped down with her fingers and lost her breath when she noticed the truth of what he spoke of.

_W..What the hell? It should be right here.. What's going on?_

"Do you think it could be a glitch? I mean, this is a pretty large error but..there's still a chance that it got messed up right?" Erica queried, a worried look laced in her delicate features.

The one with the dark hair shook his head with a dark sigh.

"We've already ruled out that idea. If there was an error that big on the day of the release, the game would take a lot of damage. Even if that was the case, the GMs could have force logged us out of the game." As he finished speaking, a bell rang in the distance. The three of them were caught off guard as they were enveloped in a bright blue light.

"A force teleport?!"

As Erica opened her eyes she found herself amongst crowds of players in the center of the Town of Beginnings.

The rest of that hour was a blur mixed with fear and confusion, Erica finding out that what had been her escape, was now her reality. Her nightmare.

**Sorry for skipping Kayaba's speech. I just figured we've all watched the show and read stories with it repeated so many times it's engraved into our memories. :\ I know I suck at writing so please don't flame me for anything. If anything, constructive criticism helps a lot. R&amp;R.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm actually kinda surprised that anybody followed this story! I noticed that I had some errors in it, and a couple of people gave me some feedback which is very much appreciated. Thanks to the two who reviewed. Hopefully I can take your advice and make a better chapter than that last one. –Cake**

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Chapter 2: Tolbana

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Erica let out a sigh as she finished off an Alpha Wolf for a quest, rather disappointed with she drops from the creature. She ran a hand through her shoulder length red hair, looking at at the pillar leading up to the second floor. She was unsure if the players inside this death game would ever be able to escape. It had been a full month since the start, and they still hadn't found the boss room. Erica herself had gone to where the entrance was in the beta test, only to be met with a stone wall.

She sheathed her Anneal Blade and decided to return to Tolbana to turn in her quest, brushing her bangs out of her eyes as the wind tossed her hair around. She scowled at the wind and tucked her hair behind her ear instead, walking back to the town with her fists clenched.

Erica's pace quickened as she thought of the shield she would be getting in reward for completing the quest, a smile replacing the scowl. It was the only quest for 3 floors involving a shield as reward. As far as she knew, that is. Kayaba could have changed anything. As she entered the town, she blinked as she saw a familiar black-haired boy.

"Hey, Kirito-kun!" Erica yelled as she walked up to the swordsman, ignoring the irritated look on his face as she approached. The boy just sighed and stopped walking, turning to look at her.

"Hey, Erica-san.." He looked off and continued walking, with Erica following him rather closely.

"What're you doing around here? Some occasion?" Erica queried, using a cheery demeanor to attempt to break him out of his poor mood.

"What, I have to have a reason to be in Tolbana?" He replied, giving her a sideways glance before actually answering her question.

"I'm here for a meeting concerning the first floor boss. There's a meeting at the Amphitheatre in 30 minutes."

"Oh! I'm fortunate I approached you then. I don't want to miss out on that opportunity." Erica responded with a smile as she began to speak once more.

"Y'know, you could stand to be a little less rigid. I'm not _that_ annoying." Kirito smirked and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know about that," He retorted, causing Erica roll her eyes and punch him in the arm.

"I'm going to go turn in a quest. Look for me at that meeting!" Erica said, jogging off in the direction of the house containing the NPC she needed to talk to. Kirito just shook his head and laughed, continuing on towards the markets.

Erica stepped out of the house after turning in the quest for Alpha Wolf pelts, brandishing her new shield proudly. The shield was mainly wooden, with a metal rim around the outside and a large dome-like piece of metal in the center. She grinned at the feel of it and placed it on her back before beginning to walk to the Amphitheatre.

In the back of her mind, Erica briefly thought about what the first floor boss might be.

_Would it be as same as the beta? Kayaba has already changed a few things.. _She shook the thoughts out of her head and smiled.

"I'm sure I have nothing to worry about. I should focus on the meeting." She kept a brisk pace as she weaved through the town.

Within minutes she arrived at the meeting, which appeared to have started already. Erica quickly scoped out Kirito and scurried over to him, sitting next to him rather noisily.

"Did I miss anything important?" She inquired, getting a quick shake of the head from Kirito.

Erica smiled and turned her attention to the man who seemed to be holding the meeting.

"Recently, my party found the boss room," The man divulged, causing Erica's dark green eyes to open wide. She devoted her undivided attention until a man with spiky hair jumped into the center of the Amphitheatre and started spouting crap about beta testers leaving the normal players behind.

Erica immediately grasped her arm tighter than normal, her arms crossed. She frowned and glared at the man before a tall bald man with dark skin spoke up. He defended the beta testers and won the argument easily, attempting to get on with the meeting. The two sat back down and Erica let out a nearly silent sigh. The man called Diabel continued with the meeting with ease.

Soon, he insisted people begin to get into parties. An evil grin spread across Erica's face as she looked over to Kirito, only to see him scooting over to talk to somebody who got left out. She scowled and sighed, resting her elbows on her knees before closing her eyes.

"What an asshat.." She murmured to herself before looking up again, seeing Kirito waving her over. With wide eyes she stood and walked over to the two sitting there.

"So after ditching me to party with somebody else you invite me over? Make up your mind already, Kirito-kun," Erica teased, grinning at him. Kirito only shook his head and sent her a party invite. She accepted instinctively and took her seat next to him, not really paying attention to the rest of the speech. She could just pester Kirito for the information later when she needed it.

As the meeting ended, she noted that they would meet up at 10 a.m. Kirito stood next to her and she let out a sigh, standing up as well and following him. As they left the Amphitheatre Erica patted his arm lightly and began to speak.

"I'm going to the inn to rent a room. Do you plan on getting your own room?" She asked, being serious for once instead of teasing him with every word that left her mouth. Kirito nodded swiftly, causing Erica to frown internally.

"Alright. Well, see you tomorrow then," She said to him, giving him a lazy mock salute as she headed off towards the inn. The girl let out a sigh as she entered the cramped inn, walking up to the bar with a light scowl on her face. The NPC just smiled at her with its unnaturally happy disposition.

"Hi! What do you need today?" It asked, the smile now beginning to unnerve Erica. She requested a room for one and quickly paid the 5 Col it cost for the room before rushing upstairs into her room. She immediately unequipped all her gear save for her normal clothing and fell face first onto the bed.

It didn't take her long to start thinking about the one month that had already transpired. 2,000 people dead in one month, with the casualties still rising. Erica just sighed, and attempted to focus on a happier memory.

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_"__Hyaah!" Erica yelled as she rushed forward and bashed a plant-type creature aside what appeared to be its head. She activated her sword skill as it stumbled, leaping forward and cutting it down with ease. The creature exploded into polygons and the girl sheathed her newly upgraded blade, smiling in satisfaction as she was elevated to level 13. _

_"__An offensive shield-sword type, huh? That's not something you see everyday," Erica heard from behind her, drawing her sword swiftly as she noticed the boy behind her. He immediately stepped back and help up his hands in a friendly gesture. She glared at him but lowered her sword, raising a brow at his comment. _

_"__Why do you say that? I prefer using the blunt force of my shield more than I like hiding behind it. It gets the job done quicker." She explained, sheathing her blade. The boy laughed and crossed his arms._

_"__That's an interesting way of fighting. I like it. Just by watching you fight I can tell you're used to it already. You were in the beta weren't you?" He inquired, a curious look on his feminine features. Erica crossed her arms and laughed._

_"__Who's asking?" She asked, giving him a defiant look._

_"__Kirito," He replied, a small smirk forming on his lips. Erica smiled at him._

_"__I'm Erica. Nice to meet you Kirito..and to answer your question, yes I was a beta tester," Erica stated._

_Kirito's smirk grew. _

_"__I figured as much. I was one too. I'm glad to meet somebody who has as much knowledge as I do," He said, a smile replacing his smirk. _

_"__Likewise. Hey, do you mind if I add you to my friend's list? I don't have any friends yet, and it can be nice to have somebody to call for when I'm in a sticky situation," Erica asked, looking off with her arms crossed behind her back. Kirito just laughed and sent her the request as an answer, causing Erica's eyes to go wide in surprise. She hit the accept button and laughed. _

_"__Thanks, Kirito. I've got stuff to do, so I'll see you around?" She said, arms now at her sides. Kirito nodded and put a hand on his hip._

_"__Yeah, I'll see you later Erica."_

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Erica just smiled into her pillow as she thought of the warm memory. The days before Kirito decided to find her as a nuisance. She rolled onto her back and let out a yawn, opening her menu to set an alarm for early in the day tomorrow. She crawled under the blankets of the bed she laid on and yawned once more, closing her eyes to let the darkness of sleep take her.

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**AND it's done. Chapter 2. I hope it wasn't terribly bad. I tried to make it interesting even though it isn't a very interesting part. I'll try to update on a regular basis, every 2 to 3 days or so. With school and such I can't be extremely consistent unless I procrastinate my homework to write instead. Anyway, feedback and constructive criticism is appreciated. R&amp;R –Cake **


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